Dancing Through Life
by The Pen Vs The Sword
Summary: The girls convince Sonic, Chris, and co. to throw a dance disguised as an end of the year celebration. But do they secretly have something else in mind? Perhaps the pairing of two hedgehogs? Sonic/Amy. One-shot. Requested by tiacat11


**A/N:** Hello all. This request comes from tiacat11. Given the nature of her request, we tried to do the best we could since this is supposed to be kind of like Wicked - which I have never seen. As usual, words were inserted and a couple of things were changed around.

**Sword:** I haven't seen Wicked either! Hey Pen! Let's go get some tickets for it! Tooooo New York!

**Pen:** Go by yourself.

Anyway, all characters belong to Sega while the lyrics in bold belong to Stephen Schwartz and all other associates of Wicked.

**Sword:** *steals Pen's credit card and buys the tickets* Yay! Let's go!

Enjoy.

**Dancing Through Life**

It was a beautiful sunny day in the city of Station Square. The weather was clear, with nary a trace of a stormy cloud in the sky, and it was neither too chilly nor too warm for the city's inhabitants. In short, it was the perfect day to be outside enjoying time with friends or taking some time for one's self.

And this is what the young Chris Thorndyke would have been doing had it not been for the piles of homework that sat in front of him. He sighed wistfully as he closed one of the numerous books on the table in front of him, only to pick up another and crack it open. He glanced up and stared longingly out the window that sat above the table, wishing he could be outside instead. He almost slipped into another daydream about what he could be doing before shaking his head and burying his weary face into his studies.

This proved a more difficult task as the minutes slowly ticked away. His mind kept wandering to all sorts of realms of his imagination and the noise outside was not helping. Chris had a hard time from resisting the urge to snap his pencil in frustration or throw one of the many books at the birds that chirped merrily right outside. Or to chuck one of the behemoth textbooks at the children laughing and playing in the street below. And the bright ball in the sky kept taunting him by inching itself ever closer to his eyes, and any shiny objects on the table, so that it could blind him.

It soon quieted down in the road below though, much to the boy's relief. And he was nearly done with the chapter he was reading until someone hopped up onto his window. A certain azul hedgehog with bright green eyes, that held a glint of cockiness and mischief to them.

"Hey Sonic," Chris greeted, looking up from the book at his visitor. "I thought you wanted to sleep."

"I did," Sonic yawned, showing that he had indeed been sleeping for a while. "But I can't get back ta sleep. And with no Eggbutt ta kick around, there's nothin' ta do." He swung his legs over the windowsill and kicked them back and forth against the wall.

"Well I can't help you," Chris replied. He lifted the book, showing off the title _The Marvelous Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz_. He laid it flat on the table and glued his eyes to the text. "I have to have this read by tomorrow for school."

Sonic sighed and turned his head to look out the window. Racking his mind for something to do, he was at a loss. Everyone else was downstairs in the living room, either watching mindless daytime television or in a catatonic state of torpor from the nothing to do.

That is when it hit Sonic. If everyone in the house was bored, why not get out of the house and go somewhere? And the more the hedgehog dwelled on this idea, the more he liked it. The only obstacle standing in their way from the entire gang going out was Chris' homework. But Sonic was quick to form a plan to deal with that as well.

"Ya'know," he began, catching the young boy's attention, "_** the trouble with schools is they always try to teach the wrong lesson**_." Now Chris was staring at Sonic and it was all the hedgehog could do not to pump his arm in success at how well his plan was working. "_**Believe me, I've been kicked out of enough of them**_ back on our home planet_** to know**_."

"You were in school?" Chris asked skeptically.

The hero nodded and stood up. "Some are. The parents and other adults try ta catch us and force us into some sort of school, at least ta learn basic math stuff or survival skills. Most don't stick around though," he leaned in, "including your's truly."

"Why not?" the boy questioned as he watched Sonic walk back and forth precariously close to the window's edge.

"Because we all learn from experience. _**They want you to become less callow,  
less shallow**_," he said, spinning around on the edge. His foot nearly slipped, causing Chris to gasp and reach out to assist him. But true to his nature, Sonicstepped lively away from the window, making it look like he meant to alarm his audience with a misstep like that all along. "_**But i say: "why invite stress in?" Stop studying strife and learn to life "the unexamined life"**_."__Chris turned back around and kept on reading. "And fail my class? No way."

Sonic hopped onto the desk and plopped himself on one of the stacks of books. He lifted one of his skinny legs up and propped his elbow on it. "Didn't ya know?_**Life's more painless for the brainless**_ as a great man once said."

"Who?"

Sonic scratched his ear in embarrassment. "I forgot. I didn't stick around in school long enough ta find out." He grabbed Chris' hand and pulled him away from the table. "C'mon! Ya can do that later! It's almost summer vacation after all. Everyone is waitin' downstairs!"__Despite the taller's hesitance, Sonic overpowered him and pulled the boy out of the room and down the flight of stairs in the hall. Then they rushed into the living room, where everyone was just as they were when Sonic had last seen them.

Tails was sitting on the sofa next to Cream, a bit of grease and grime covering his gloves from tinkering with the plane earlier. The rabbit was leaning her head on the fox's shoulder, both their eyelids drooping shut, while Cream's chao was perched on her lap, already fast asleep.

In a seat next to them, Knuckles was loudly snoring and sprawled out over the chair. A bit of dribble hung out of his open mouth, causing the bat next to him to show her disgust. Rouge, who sat on the arm of the chair, pulled out a handkerchief from one of her pockets and dabbed at the echidna's mouth to wipe it up, before closing it herself. Yet it simply sprang back open and another string of saliva replaced the previous one. Rouge muttered in annoyance about Knuckles and how she should go steal his emerald.

Sonic pushed Chris into one of the empty seats surrounding the room. "So where's everyone wanna go?"

Tails and Cream looked up, taking notice of them, before shrugging. Rouge suggested a jewelry store- although she wanted to go late at night after it had closed. Sonic turned to Knuckles, who was still fast asleep. The snoozing echidna was struck upside the head by his chair partner and promptly woke up.

"What's going on? he slurred out, wiping away the blurriness from his eyes. The blue hedgehog repeated his question, to which Knuckles answered the same as Tails and Cream. "I don't know. Someplace we haven't been before I guess? Like a fancy place?" He yawned and laid back in the chair. "_**Whats the most swankified place in town?**_"

Rouge fell off the side of the chair, laughing and holding her sides. Cream immediately jumped off the sofa to make sure the bat was all right, waking up Cheese in the process. "Geez Knuckie. 'Swankified'? Are ya living in the 40's?" she gasped in between bouts of chuckles.

Chris decided to interject with an answer before the overreactive echidna could pummel the giggling girl, which he was close to doing. "_**That would be the Ozdust Ballroom**_," he said. Knuckles and the others paused to listen to him. "It's one of the most magnificent places. It's really tall and has a huge dining room." All the guys took notice of that and licked their lips. "And it's got a big arcade. Oh yeah. And it has a huge ballroom for dancing as well."

At that one simple word, both the girls' ears perked up. They repeated it as both a curious question and an excitable whisper. "Dancing?" Each glanced quickly at their secret crush to envision a dance floor with just them on it, as some girls are prone to do. They began to hatch the same plot almost simultaneously, as if the girls in the room shared some psychic bond.

__"_**Sounds perfect**_," Rouge purred. She jumped off the ground, flying over to Sonic and Chris. Hovering between the two, she started to work her natural charm. "_** Let's go down to the Ozdust Ballroom later tonight**_," she suggested. "Have a dance."

"What for?" Sonic asked.

Rouge looked around, trying to invent a good excuse and catching Cream's eye to ask for any suggestions. "Because, um..."

"For the end of the school year!" Tails piped up. Everyone stared bewildered at him. The little fox blushed heavily and averted his eyes from them. "What? It's not a bad idea._** We can dance till **_morning." And then he lowered his voice so that he spoke under his breath. "_**Find the prettiest girl**_," he quickly caught a glimpse of Cream's blushing face. "_**Give her a whirl**_."

__"Well that settles it then," Rouge affirmed, nodding her head.

Cream grabbed her chao and headed out the door, saying that she needed to go tell her mother and to prepare herself. Tails rushed out soon afterwards, saying that he had to find a nice suit. Rouge headed upstairs to prepare for the ball as well. This left Sonic, Chris, and Knuckles to gulp at and wonder how they had placed themselves in this situation.

* * *

Hours later, after Sonic had been "coerced" by Chris' pleading and Knuckles fists, who had in turn been forced by the threat of Rouge's boots, the three guys had invited Chris' whole class, placed a reservation for the room at the Ozdust Hotel, and informed the boy's parents of what was happening. Their chosen base of operations was the kitchen, partly because it had a phone and partly due to Sonic's ravenous appetite and urges to raid the fridge and pantry for food.

After the last phone call, the blue hedgehog burped from the potato chips he just ate and slumped over in his seat, causing it to slide across the floor with a scrape. Knuckles followed suit, content that he did not have to call anyone else. Chris leaned back in his chair and sighed in relief, glad that all the necessities were taken care of. "Well all that's left is to get ready. Speaking of which, who are you guys taking?"

The other two both sat up at that realization and looked at each other. They had not even planned on that, but now that the thought hit them, it was a ball and they would need dates. After all, they could not dance by themselves. "Uh, I was plannin' on goin' alone," Sonic answered with a casual shrug.

Before Knuckles could answer, a sultry voice spoke up. "Knuckie is already spoken for." The three of them turned around to see Rouge standing at the doorway to the kitchen. She stood with her usual stance, hip jutted out to one side to show off her curves in the short, purple dress that she now wore. She batted her eyelashes, which had violet eyeshadow applied to them, and hiked up one leg onto one of the kitchen chairs, showing off the stilettos that she wore, not to mention the slit running up the side of the dress itself. The girl used her white gloved hands to pull it down a bit and strode over to the echidna.

Knuckles could only gape in surprise, letting a tiny bit of drool hang out and desperately cling to his teeth. Rouge smirked and grabbed a napkin off the table to wipe it. "Are ya gonna slobber all day?" she asked. "_**I hope you'll save at least one dance for me**_ Knuckie_**. I'll be right there. Waiting. All night**_," she whispered close to his ear.

The echidna shook his head and composed himself. "I doubt I'll even go." He was quite violently struck on the head by Rouge. "Ow! What was that for?"

"I didn't spend hours gettin' ready ta look this good so that you wouldn't go!" She pointed at the stairs and ordered him to go find something to wear. Knuckles complied, only to get away from the cantankerous bat, grumbling all the way up.Rouge turned back to the other two, who had been watching the confrontation and immediately looked elsewhere when she glared in their direction. "And what about you two?"

"I'm taking someone from class," Chris answered. "Speaking of which, I'd better go get ready." He quickly hurried out of the room lest he be the next victim of the bat's anger.

Sonic, left alone with her, tried to surreptitiously follow, but Rouge stood in his way and pointed back to the seat. He moaned and sat back down, crossing his arms and thinking nasty thoughts about at the other two who had left him in this predicament. He already knew what Rouge was going to request. Both of them sat in silence for a few minutes before Rouge decided to start the conversation. "Sonic-"

"Not doin' it," he replied tersely.

She huffed and re-thought her approach. She had to do this delicately or she could end up driving the blue hedgehog away. And the person she was trying to help did not deserve that to happen to her. Again. "Look-"

"Ames can go with someone else," Sonic said. "Like Shadow or someone."

The stubborn girl would not take no for an answer, so she decided to attempt a different tactic. It was a last ditch effort she had saved just in case all other tries came to a head. All she had to do was get him to say that he would take Amy and then she would have him. After all, everyone knew the hero was true to his word, no matter what. She pushed herself away from the table, stood up, and walked over to Sonic, resting her hand on his shoulders. "Oh please Sonic," she asked politely. "It would mean so much to her."

The blue hedgehog felt his chair slowly being turned around to look out a window, where he could see two figures outside. One was Tails, looking as nervous as one could possibly be. He fidgeted with the black tie on his suit and tried to tuck his white shirt into the cummerbund some more.

The other figure, who had a more feminine shape, helped the fox with the tie before moving back to get a good look at him. And, in the process, giving Sonic a good look at her. It was Amy, who he had not noticed earlier to be absent all day from the house. She nodded in approval of Tails' suit and took a seat in one of the lawn chairs, letting the setting sun bath her in its gold rays while it embraced it's velvet lover in it's orange arms before letting the moon take over the evening shift.

Rouge smirked at the way Sonic watched her and continued. "_**See that tragic'ly beautiful girl**_," she said, pointing at Amy, "_**The one in the chair**_?_**It seems so unfair **_that _**we should go on a spree and not she**_."

He turned around and cocked an eyebrow at the bat. "Whaddaya mean? Ain't Ames goin'?"

"With who?" Rouge questioned. "No one's invited her since we set this up. But_** I know someone would be my hero**_, and her's," and at this she pressed herself close to Sonic so that he was overwhelmed by her body and scent, "_** if that someone were to go invite her.**_" She let the disguised request hang in the air along with her overpowering perfume.

The heroic hedgehog was, at this point, reduced to putty in the thief's hands. The allure of the pervading perfume coupled with the heavenly glow around Amy, and the guilt that she had no one to go with, rendered Sonic's mind helpless to what his body started to do. Slowly he opened his mouth. "_**Well, maybe I could invite her!**_" he suggested stupidly, unaware of what he was saying.

Rouge resisted the urge to smile triumphantly. "_**Oh really**_ now_**? You would do that for **_us_**!**_" He nodded and she grinned. "So around eight is good?"

He nodded slowly again before she pecked his cheek with a chaste kiss and ran outside to tell Amy the good news, leaving Sonic to realize what he had just gotten himself into.

* * *

__"_**Oh Cream- isn't it wonderful?**_" Amy gushed. She sat in front of the mirror in the bedroom they shared in Chris' house, painting her lips with a sparkling pink lip gloss and straightening her quills. She was so jittery and excited that the different make-up components slipped out of her hands or she would accidently knock them from the dresser in front of her to the floor. Ever since Rouge had delivered the wonderful news, Amy had been unable to calm down.

Cream chuckled at the sight while Cheese cooed and flew around Amy, trying to catch the various bottles before they spilled and stained the carpet. The little rabbit walked over to her friend and helped her apply some powder to her cheeks.

"Thanks," Amy said. She studied herself in the mirror and beamed."_**Fin'lly, for this one night**_, _**I'm about to have a fun night with **_my Sonic. All thanks to Rouge and you for suggesting this dance and Sonic taking me. He must have finally realized that we're made for each other!" She spun around in the seat and jumped up, unable to contain her happiness. The pink hedgehog twirled around, letting the dark dress that Rouge had let her borrow flow around her. Though this was a bit harder to do in high heels than she imagined and she tripped. Thankfully, her pink bed caught her fall, enveloping her in it's warm, soft fluff.

Cream came over to check on her, flattening out the creases in her own sunny yellow dress that, according to Rouge, suited the doe just fine even if it was too childish for the bat's taste. She helped Amy up off the bed, who shook her quills around and checked her own dress for any wrinkles. "_**I only wish there were  
something I could do for **_Rouge_** to repay her**_," Amy continued. "_** We deserve each other and Rouge**_, and you guys," she quickly added, taking note of Cream and Cheese's help. "_**helped it come true. We deserve each other**_,_** me and Sonic.**_"__And then the love struck girl was gone once again, into another fantasy of the wonderful time her hero and she would have tonight. Cream smiled and brought her back to the chair so that Cheese and her could finish applying Amy's makeup. "_**I do**_ understand Amy."

Three sharp and quick raps were heard at the white door. The girls invited the person inside and the door opened to reveal Rouge. She sashayed in, closing the door behind her, and smirked, keeping her hands out of sight. "You two ready yet? Your dates are waitin' downstairs."

"Almost," Cream replied. She hurried herself up to finish with Amy's makeup while the bat leaned again the wall and watched.

"Rouge_** listen**_," Amy said, wanting to thank her again."Cream_** and I were talking about you just now-**_"__"_**And I was just talking about you**_ with Ella," she interjected. She pulled out her hand from behind her to reveal a black hat with some pointed edges and forming a small cone at the top. "We_** thought you might want to wear this hat to the party tonight**_." She passed it over to Cream, who placed it snugly onto Amy's head.

Both of the girls touched it, pricking themselves on it's spikes situated near the brim. "_**It's really,uh, sharp, don't you think?**_" Cream said, a bit worried that it could poke someone. Most likely Amy's date.

"Well_** you know- black is this years pink**_," Rouge offered, walking over and tipping the hat more to one side. "Better."

The pink hedgehog, after receiving subsequent stings of pain from letting her fingers explore the rest of the hat, sat back and smiled. "Thanks Rouge. For everything."

The bat shrugged and waved her off casually as she headed for the door. "_** You deserve each other**_," she said as she opened the door. "Better finish up though. They're all ready to leave."

* * *

Thirty minutes later, the whole gang had arrived at the Ozdust Hotel, courtesy of Chris' butler, Mr. Tanaka, who informed them that he would be back in a few hours to pick them up. After bidding him goodbye, each person entered the hotel with their respective date. Tails and Cream, both furiously blushing and painfully shy, stumbled and entered first, followed by Knuckles and Rouge, who kept bickering with one another as the echidna lamented how ridiculous his suit felt while the thief threatened him to keep quiet. Close behind them was Chris and a girl from his class, both of whom entered calmly and just like one would expect a couple to act.

Last of all was Sonic and Amy, who took their time thanks to the blue hedgehog. He swayed back and forth, from foot to foot, trying to plan a method of escape. He was still under Rouge's watchful gaze so he wondered if he should take his chances now and risk the bat tearing him up later or if slipping out of the ballroom was a possibility. Either way, he had to make a choice and fast. Amy was standing next to him, waiting to wrap the boy's arm with hers.

"Sonic?" Amy queried, tilting her head to the side.

He looked up and saw Knuckles and Rouge at the door, watching the hedgehog couple. Sonic shook his head. He could not do this. He would not lie to Amy like this when she did not know the whole story. Not to mention that despite all his running speed and athletic skill, Sonic was a clumsy dancer. "_** Listen- **_Amy_**-**_"_**Yes?**_" she said, urging him to go on.

But he made the mistake of locking eyes with her and was rendered unable to speak his mind. Her questioning eyes, which held that tint of a joyous sparkle, left him paralyzed while her svelte black dress and hat made his heart beat harder in his chest. His mouth, once again, hung agape while his mind tried to process some form of response.

"Sonic?" Amy questioned worriedly, afraid that he would run off and leave her alone. She would not be surprised at this point. It had happened enough times that she anticipated it every time they were together.

However, Sonic stunned her by offering his angled arm and grinning. "Ready to go in?" he asked, reassuring her doubts with his gentleman facade. She immediately took his arm, holding onto it tight in case he had second thoughts and tried to run, and leaned on his shoulder. Both of them, and Knuckles and Rouge, were pleasantly amazed that Sonic allowed Amy to get that far. But no one was more so than Sonic himself, who found that he quite enjoyed the feeling.

As he opened the door for his date, he caught the knowing eyes of the other couple. He simply waved off the experience and whatever just happened as a side effect of saving Amy all the time. He reasoned that since he had to carry her away from danger all the time, he would come to enjoy her holding onto him as it just reminded the hero of his past adventures and escapades.

The outside of the hotel had been nothing special. Boring gray mortar slabs painted over with a peach color and topped with a large gold sign of it's name on top. Several windows were lit up by lights, but suffice to say that from the outside, one would simply pass the building off as another normal hotel.

It was when they arrived inside that the whole group saw differently. The lobby was large and magnificent, lit up by a handful of chandeliers and decked out with gold dust paint. The furniture, walls, and just about everything else looked like it had been touched and designed personally by King Midas himself. And the lights above helped everything shimmer in front of the guests' eyes.

The people walking around were no less fancy. Men strode through the halls and rooms with pressed slacks, suits, or some other form of formal attire. Accompanying many of them were gorgeous women- all of whom Amy, Cream, and Rouge were quick to shield their dates' wandering eyes from- who followed their husbands or boyfriends with an air of dignity and grace.

While Chris led the way to the ballroom past the crowd, Sonic could feel the beginnings of nervousness start to set in. This place was far too extravagant for him and the people were too prim and proper. He felt his throat closing off and was forcing himself to breath deeply. Meanwhile, his date was having the same problem only for the opposite reason. Amy was absolutely fascinated by the elegance and craftsmanship of the decor, such as the carved wooden statues of wizards and wands that were nestled in the wall.

Tails noticed Sonic's troubled eyes and maneuvered over to him, letting Cream and Amy marvel at the hotel. "You ok?" he asked his surrogate older brother.

The blue hedgehog shook his head, clearing it and nodded. "I'll be fine," he answered. "I just can't stand places like this. Not ta mention I gotta dance with Amy. And this suit is tight!" He tugged at the collar, hoping to either loosen it or pull it off completely.

"You'll get used to it," Tails told him, grabbing Sonic's hand and pulling it down. "Just don't mess with it." He started to separate from the hedgehog as they neared the ballroom. "And dancing is easy. Just feel the music."

"Easy for you ta say," Sonic retorted, but the fox was already gone with his partner, leaving the hedgehog with Amy as they arrived at the entrance to the ballroom.

"You know," Chris informed them as he pulled the door open, "they say a movie star once stayed here."

"Who?" Cream questioned.

He scrunched up his face in thought. "Not sure. Someone my mom knew. Judy Garlic? Or something like that." He opened the door and waved them through.

The ballroom was possibly as, if not more, majestic than the rest of the hotel, earning gasps of awe from Sonic and the rest. The ceiling rose far off into the heavenly night and the room was splashed in aureate yellow coloring as well. The same carvings that were found in the hallways were in there as well, except they had been brightly colored. The glittering banisters above that held up the domed ceiling also supported numerous chandeliers that reflected in the glassy dance floor. All in all, it was a wonderful sight to behold.

There was also the music to take in. Much to the relief of the impatient hedgehog, it was not the upscale waltzes that usually frequented these events. Instead, it was more of a collection of upswing numbers, making the dance floor more lively with couples who slid around gracefully as if they had been cavorting like that for years.

As the girls giggled excitedly, Sonic searched for a means of escape. But before he found one, his eyes landed on some white cloth covered tables at the far end of the room, past the ornate wooden tables and chairs. Loaded on the cloth tables were piles of food, just waiting to be heaped onto a plate and dumped into the hedgehog's hungry stomach. He was torn between finding a way out and sampling each of the delicious morsels and treats they had to offer.

He felt someone grab his hand before he could rush for the tables or the doors. He saw it was Amy, who pulled him toward the dance floor and pointed out that the others had already begun dancing. Wanting to say no, but sighing in defeat when he was again entranced by her gorgeous eyes, Sonic followed.

Of course, the pink hedgehog had to drag her date to the middle. Sonic was cursing the bright lights under his breath until he saw that Amy was waiting for him to make a move. Gulping and trying to go back instinct, he placed one hand on her delicate shoulder, causing her to shiver from his touch. And the other hand grasped hers, a little too tightly.

"Ready?" Amy asked. Sonic nodded and they were off, albeit a little clumsy. For all his boasting of how good he was on his feet, the blue hedgehog came dangerously close to squashing his date's toes several times and was constantly bumping into people. Each time Amy would apologize for him as Sonic was too busy trying to correct his coordination.

Eventually, he got into the swing of the music and both of them were dancing more gracefully. Not exactly gliding, but it was as close to it as they would come.

As they intermingled into the larger group, the prickling of guilt for not being honest with Amy came back. Sonic decided that he could not go on like this until she knew. "_**Uh- **_Amy?" he tried tentatively, but his call fell on deaf ears. She was too into the experience to hear him. So Sonic pulled her off to the side, breaking her bliss and causing her to immediately become concerned.

"Is something wrong?"

"No!" he replied. "Well kinda." He groaned, pulling his face down with the palm of his gloved hand and trying to put this delicately. "_**I've got something to confess,**_" he explained. He turned his attention to the floor, lest Amy's eyes bewitch him again into keeping this bottled up. "_**A reason why, well- why i asked you here tonight**_."

"Yes?"

He swallowed the wad of spit in his throat. "_**Now I know it isn't fair**_ to let ya think that I did it because I love you. I did it-" But she held up a hand to cut him off.

"_**Oh, **_Sonic_**, I know why**_," she said sadly.

He blinked, very surprised that she could have found out. "_**You do?**_"

She nodded and continued. "_**It's because **_I was_** in **_that_** chair and you felt sorry for me**_._**Well- isn't that right?**_" When Sonic did not reply, she pushed his hands off of her and cast her eyes downward."You never did want to go with me. You lied to me," she accused, her temper beginning to flare. But she calmed down, knowing that it would do no good, and let her shoulders droop. "I understand," she said quietly before walking off to one of the tables. The blue hedgehog could only watch her walk away, unable to think of anything to stop her.

* * *

Rouge moaned and rubbed her sore feet at one of the tables while Knuckles sat opposite of her, arms crossed indignantly as he looked elsewhere. "I don't see how this is my fault," he told her. "I said I couldn't dance."

"That doesn't mean ya had ta break my toes," she snapped, trying to sooth the pain in each of her tender digits. She barely registered that Amy had arrived at their table until Knuckles stood up and told them he was going to hit the food table. Rouge glanced up to see he was already gone and had left the bat with the distraught hedgehog.

"What happened?" Rouge said, trying to sympathize while grimacing at the throbbing pain in her feet. She patted her friend's hand reassuringly and coaxed the hedgehog to lift her head.

Amy sniffed, letting a sole tear run down her face, but holding back the rest. She wiped her eyes and exhaled sorrowfully, taking the hat off and setting it nonchalantly on the table. She tried to explain what had happened, but kept choking on her sharp, mournful inhales. And a few seconds later, Sonic showed up at the table.

"Can I talk ta Amy for a sec?" he asked.

Rouge nodded while the pink hedgehog turned her back to him. The bat stood up and headed over to Knuckles, but not without mouthing "Fix this." to Sonic. He nodded and sat down beside Amy.

She scooted to the edge of her chair and crossed her arms defiantly. Sonic sighed and started his apology slowly. "Amy?" he said, but she stayed completely still, refusing to listen. "C'mon Ames. Please hear me out. You're not makin' this easy."

Even with his limited knowledge of relationships and intimacy, the blue hedgehog knew that he had misspoken before the words even crossed his tongue. Unfortunately his brain was, ironically, too slow to stop him. Before he could take it back though, Amy rounded on him. A furious fire burned in her pupils, turning her normally lovely green orbs into a hateful inferno caused by a broken heart. Her entire face was twisted up and did not bode well with her running make-up.

"Oh I'm soooo sorry," she retorted sarcastically, putting heavy emphasis on each word. "You expect me to forget about this? You lied to me!" She leaned dangerously close to Sonic, her posture reminding the blue hedgehog of a murderer ready to strangle their victim. "You did it just because you felt sorry for me, didn't you? Admit it!"

"_**No! NO!**_" he shouted, holding up his hands in defense in case Amy decided to wallop him with her balled up fists or, worse yet, her hammer. "_**It's because... because...**_" Nothing came to his mind. It was a blank slate and she was ready to rip into him if he did not say something fast. So he took a gamble and stuttered out the first thing that came to his mind. "_**Because you are so beautiful!**_"

Time stood still as the words sunk into her mind. The music died down for the two hedgehogs and paused and the dancers seemed to become wax figurines, holding position for a brief instant. Sonic watched her with anticipation, hoping he would not have to make a mad dash for the door.

"What do you mean?" Amy finally questioned, signaling for the room to return to normal, which it did right away as if nothing happened.

He twiddled his thumbs in his lap and heaved a heavy sigh. "At first, yes, Rouge did talk me into it. She felt sorry for you and guilted me into askin' ya. But!" he quickly added to forestall any further rise of anger from his date, "I did start ta enjoy this night. I'm havin', or was havin', fun with you. I do like spending time with you." Then he quietly added, "And you do look beautiful."__"_**Oh, **_Sonic," Amy sniffed, wiping a fresh tear away from her eye at the thoughtful compliment and honesty of his confession. "That's so sweet of you. " He grinned goofily, happy to have avoided a thrashing and Amy giggled. "Just when I think I'll never forgive you and hate you, you always manage to say the right thing." But she crossed her arms again and stuck her nose in the air while a hint of a smile graced her features. "But don't think you're off the hook completely, Sonic the Hedgehog."

Sonic understood what she meant by that. He had made Amy mad at him plenty of times to know that he not only needed to apologize and sway her feelings with words, but that he almost required to show his sincerity through action. Thinking silently to himself for a few seconds, Sonic nodded. "Alright, how about this? Tomorrow, you and me, will spend the day together. We'll go to the park-"

"And walk through it this time?"

He smiled and kept going. "Sure. Then we'll go to your favorite restaurant-"

"The Italian one? Dinner for two?"

"Yep. Followed by that movie you wanted to see. Ya'know, the uh, er," he tapped his chin as if doing so would jumpstart his memory.

Amy grinned and turned around to face him. She could see that he was trying his best. So she placed her hands on his and squeezed their fingers together. "Sounds wonderful. And then we can watch the sunset?"

Sonic blushed, but slowly nodded in agreement. He glanced back at the dance floor, where their friends were still dancing, and heard the music pick up. He actually started to tap his foot along with it and bob his head back and forth. "_**You know what?**_" he said, standing up and tugging on Amy's hand. "_**Let's dance**_!"__"_**What?**_"_**Let's dance!**_" he repeated, pulling again.

"But, but," she babbled, yanking in the opposite direction."But I'm a mess!" She indicated her face.

"No, you're not," Sonic replied, kneeling down next to her. He snatched the black hat from the table and placed it back on her head. "You look great."

She smiled and kissed the top of his head quickly. Then, with a renewed spring in her step and heart, she jumped up and pulled Sonic back to the dance floor. And she could only smile and laugh giddily to herself at the idea of spending the next day with her hero.__**A/N:** And done! Wooh, another request done! You guys ok?...Guys?

**Sword:** I got the tickets! Front row seats!

Those must've been expensive. Where's Pen?

**Sword: **Reading the bill.

**Pen:** SWORD!

**Sword:** Bye everyone!

**Pen:** En garde!

Well comments, critiques, or praise? Just let us know. Hope you enjoyed it. And brownie points to the people who can find the easter eggs in the story and tell us what they mean.


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